Subbed
by Kadunta
Summary: Unedited reupload. Love and obsession are hard to tell apart. Ranma's living proof of that, but some obsessions are less obvious than others.


_**Reupload note:** This is an unedited reupload of the original _Subbed_. I don't know if I will write the story out in greater detail as I thought I might._

_The usual disclaimer. Ranma 1/2 and all the related intellectual property in this fic are Rumiko Takahashi's property and whoever the rights have been given/sold to. I'm not one of those people. I'm not and won't be making any money off of this._

* * *

A young brunette, her long hair tied with a creamy white ribbon to hang over her shoulder, dried her hands on the towel in her kitchen. The kitchen was as meticulously clean as usual. Soon, she'd start preparing dinner for her father and sisters, whose school day ended in a few minutes.

School.

It had already been a full year since Kasumi Tendo finished high school and this is where she had ended up: right where she had been for the last half ten years or so. Oh, she did have plans up until she graduated. With her love of children and helping people she would've been a most enthusiastic student to become a nurse or a worker at a kindergarten.

Alas, education cost money, and someone had to take care of the house they lived in. She was the natural choice. Neither of her sisters were of particularly domestic sort, not that the youngest didn't try. Once they left the house, Nabiki would certainly rather hire someone to do the chores such as cleaning and cooking than spend her own time doing those. Akane... Kasumi hoped she'd learn to cook soon enough.

So she set out to do to the best of her ability in what she had left, and that was to take care of her family.

She sighed.

Even that dream seemed to escape further and further with every passing day. Yes, it was her family, but it wasn't _her_ family; Akane and Nabiki weren't her children. And in a few years, the two would probably marry and leave her with their father.

With the never wavering smile on her face, she took out her chocolates from the cupboard next to the fridge. The small vices of life she let herself to have.

She knew she was stuck in a rut and the way out had been lost a good while ago. She couldn't let her family down by chasing her own dreams. If she did, she'd be a disappointment not only to herself and her family.

* * *

It had been two years since she had graduated from high school. She had had dreams, but most of them had been dispelled in her high school years if not sooner.

Waiting tables was not one of her dreams, nor was becoming a housewife. Even so, that was how she expected her life would be going at best if she couldn't get into a college soon enough.

Her mother had been an honorable, traditional housewife deep down to the bone. And deeper still, to the point of it becoming a mania.

At least the therapy had helped. It had better have helped for the price it had carried. In any case, it had bought her a number of liberties... which she had needed whenever her fiancés popped out of the woodwork. Even if the fiancé mess was the source of the problems. No, that wasn't right. The fianc mess was only a consequence.

She looked across the street to the run-down house she lived in. The moist wind blowing from the east swayed her long, fiery red hair that was tied to a low ponytail.

And not for the first time Junko Saotome cursed her father and brother for leaving those ten years ago.

* * *

The hit the panda had gotten in was a good one. The memory of that would help him remember to keep his guard up at any time. The cold bath he got wasn't that bad, though. He had had worse from his Pops. But where had he gone, and what had that panda come from, first balancing on the bamboo pole and then attacking him?

But something didn't feel right. The gi on his chest felt a bit tight, so he looked downwards to see if it had somehow shrunk in the pool water.

Saying something didn't feel right was wrong. Something was very wrong. Dead wrong. The two mounds of flesh pushed against the top of his... her gi.

The realization struck her. He was a she. He was a she. The panda was going to die.

She jumped out of the water, intent on maximizing the punishment of the fur brain. The chase was on, and one bandanna-clad boy was summarily just pushed out of the way, down the cliff and into a pool as the panda ran for his life, her following him like a bloodhound.

Had she stopped to see her reflection on the pools once they had calmed, Ranma Saotome might have recognized the reflection of her face as a near copy of that of her big sister. Of course, she would've also had to remember what she looked like. Ten years was a long time.

* * *

The daylight passed through the windows of the Tendo house. In the family room sat one father, lost in the world of dreams, and his three daughters, two of whom were more or less hoping they were in a dream world themselves and would wake up any minute now. Alas, that was not to be.

The ruckus at the door woke Soun from his daydreams. The postcard he had shown his three daughters just a while ago was the sole reason for this sudden bout of escapism. The promise from sixteen years in the past was coming to fulfillment.

He stood up and rushed to the door, Nabiki eagerly trailing him.

Not stopping to catch his breath, he pulled the door open, a wide smile on his face. At seeing exactly what was on the other side of the door, the smile froze on his face, with the exception of his eye twitching a few times.

A huge panda on his hind legs was watching Soun face to face. Pandas did not belong in quiet suburbs of Tokyo! In spite of this fact, the panda whose existence defied reason, still stood before him and raised a paw up.

The panda opened his mouth wide open, giving the man before him a spectacular view of his most impressive set of teeth. In times and positions like these, things like that the panda is practically a herbivore were quite understandably easily forgotten.

"Growf!"

"Let me down, you old fool!"

Soun's gaze averted from the shiny teeth to what the panda was carrying with him. Oh look, on the panda's shoulder there was a redheaded child, probably a hapless girl the vicious panda had kidnapped. Unfortunately, the Tendo school of Anything Goes did not have a suitable solution for this situation, so instead, he decided to follow the example Nabiki had just set and 'borrow' one from their sister school.

"Saotome School Final Attack: Run away!" he shouted and slammed the door in the face of the panda.

The panda stared at the closed door, gave a put-off grunt and pushed the door back open. On the back of the panda-Genma, Ranma managed to score a hit to the back of Genma's head with her elbow. But with no real leverage she couldn't find her way out of his hold.

Inside the house, Kasumi watched as her father and sister ran away from the door. Behind them she saw the black-white form of a panda following, all the while carrying a redheaded girl.

"Stop it Pops, you're scaring'em spitless!"

Kasumi blinked audibly at the sight of the panda depositing the struggling redhead to the floor. If it wasn't for the colourful language the pigtailed girl used, Kasumi would've been certain it was Junko that was sitting on the floor before her. Junko had been in high school on a higher grade, and with her bright red hair, she easily garnered looks wherever she went. Granted, Kasumi had never really spoken with her, but her facial features were exactly the same as those of the girl the panda was carrying.

She put her ever present smile back on her face and approached their guests. Unlike her father and sister, Kasumi had had the peace of mind to remember the diet pandas had, and it didn't include humans.

"Good day, Mr. Panda," she greeted the hulking form of the bear with a bow before straightening herself back up. Akane had left outside, and judging by the sounds coming from the yard, she was tearing up a statue off their backyard. Nabiki was staring at her big sister well out of the way, her mouth wide open. As for their father, he was busy somewhere finding a blade to attack the panda with.

Kasumi cocked her head a bit to study the facial features of the girl the panda was carrying. The girl and the panda had stopped moving and the former was staring at the brunette in disbelief.

"And you are... Ranma Saotome?"

This gave the redhead's mind a kickstart and she resumed her attempts to get out of the panda's grasp. This was rendered a moot point, though, as the panda whapped her head with a wooden sign and knocked her once again unconscious.

Kasumi, aghast of the brutality directed at the girl, stared at the scribblings on the sign the panda had turned at her.

"If you give hot water, I can explain?" the sign said.

A small, nearly imperceptible crease appeared between Kasumi's brows. She quickly went to the kitchen to bring the tea kettle she had left on.

It was at this point that Soun returned, a short blade in his hands. Compared to his hand-to-hand skills, he wasn't as proficient with a blade, but he'd rather wager his chances on the panda first with a sharp blade before resorting to unarmed combat if necessary.

"Soun, old friend!" said the new sign the panda waved.

A few seconds later, the panda had had his fair share of close shaves.

Kasumi entered the room with a kettle of hot water. Dismayed, she observed the black and white tufts of fur that was now littered on the floor. Outwardly, she still carried the same smile on her face.

The panda noticed the young woman had returned with a kettle of steaming water, and he made a beeline for it.

Startled, Kasumi took a step back. In an attempt to ward the panda away, she threw the water onto the lunging panda.

"Graagh!"

The bestial growl changed halfway through into a grunt of human pain as the bulky shape of the panda changed into the just as bulky shape of Genma Saotome. At this sight Akane, who ran in from the yard carrying a boulder in her arms, lost her grip on the stone, which fell down to the floor and through it.

"Hot water, not boiling!"

Soun stopped his assault on his old gi-clad friend. "Genma?"

"Soun, old buddy!"

Nabiki, who had been on the phone making an emergency call, took a few seconds to survey the scene.

"False alarm," she muttered to the phone. But whatever was going on here, she was going to make the panda pay back for making her feel like a fool. In fact, it was best if he paid for the new floor as well, she thought, as she observed the gaping hole in the floor at Akane's feet.

* * *

The cut fur still littered the floor as the three Tendos and two Saotomes stood sat at the family room. Kasumi, who had brought to Ranma hot water, but this time not scalding hot, was lost in her thoughts.

Akane was looking at Ranma, hoping that he would just get up and leave. Nabiki's thoughts followed the same trail, but she wanted the Saotomes out only after they had paid for the damage done to the house.

"It ain't so bad, son! Here's my daughters, Kasumi, nineteen years; Nabiki, seventeen and Akane, sixteen years old. Pick one and she'll be your fiancée!"

Once the patriarch of the Tendo family finished, the Tendo house family room fell into a brief silence. The older guest to the household, currently in the form of a bald man with wire-rimmed glasses and a dirty gi, nodded at his son.

After blinking a few times in silence, he had gathered enough wits for a terse answer that fit all of his feelings into one word.

"What?"

"Oh, he wants Akane," Nabiki quickly said.

"Me? I'd never want to marry that boy!"

"Well, you're lucky - she's a boy only half the time!" the middle sister ribbed.

Akane bristled, but only for a while before deciding on the counterstrike. "Forgive me, sister..." she thought as she cast a quick look at Kasumi.

"Kasumi's the eldest, she should be the one to take the engagement!"

Kasumi started at this; she had been too lost in her thoughts to follow where the discussion was going.

"Oh... oh my..." the sudden focus of attention mumbled near only barely audibly. She had considered taking the engagement, but now the illusion of her free choice was lost with the cheerful announcement the two men gave.

"So it's decided!" echoed the high song of Genma and Soun.

Ranma's gaze shifted between the fathers, hugging and patting each other's backs, and the older brunette, who now had huge problems with looking him in the eyes.

* * *

The Tendo kitchen made up half of Kasumi's absolute domain, the other half being her bedroom. This time, the atmosphere in the kitchen was awkward. The homemaker was once again preparing a meal for the family, but the difference was her fiancé's presence.

The silence that reigned made Kasumi pose a question she had had in mind since the Saotomes appeared at their doorstep.

"Is Junko Saotome your sister?" she asked, casting a sideways look at Ranma sitting on the chair by the doorway.

"You knew her?"

Kasumi nodded and put down the knife before turning her eyes out of the window.

"Junko finished high school a year before I did. Back then, she really looked like your girl form."

Ranma was surprised to learn his fiancée - he still had trouble accepting that fact - had known about Junko. Now, maybe...

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know where she and Mom are buried?"

"What do you mean, buried?" Kasumi asked, still facing the window.

"Pops told me about the year I was starting in middle school that they had died."

Kasumi turned to face Ranma, clasped her hands tight together and cocked her head sideways. "But that was three years ago? The Junko I knew finished high school two years ago."

Ranma stared at Kasumi in befuddlement. Half a year ago, the likely conclusion he would've reached was that there were two Junko Saotomes. But the events at Jusenkyo and afterwards had made him think twice before jumping in the defense of his pops.

"You know where they live?"

Kasumi gave him a slow, hesitant nod.

"Do you want me to write you the instructions how to get there?"

Ranma cracked a smile. "Yeah." But the grin vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"But don't say anything to Pops," he growled out.

* * *

In the meantime, a different discussion was taking place in the family room between the two fathers.

"Soun... I'm leaving tonight," Genma said with a serious tone.

"But- why? What about joining the families?" Soun replied, astounded.

"I'm going alone, and I'm leaving it Ranma here for you to take care of, old buddy. Ranma had a point when he wanted to go back to China."

"The cure?"

"Indeed, Soun, indeed," Genma sagely replied, rubbing his neck as if to ascertain that yes, his head was still attached. "If I don't, the joining of families might be shorter than we would like."

"He might not like this, you know."

"Bah, he'll get over it. And when I return with the cure, why would he bear any grudge?" Genma said, chuckling.

"If you say so, old friend. But for today, let us celebrate your leave with sake!"

Genma whole-heartedly agreed to that.

* * *

The next morning, Ranma had not reacted well to Genma's departure. Still, this wasn't the first time he had been left behind, so after brooding for a day, he was already coming to terms with it. Besides, that afternoon he had other things to take care of.

Ranma knocked at an apartment door. Beside him stood Kasumi, who had come with him rather than tell him how to get here. In a way, it was reasonable, considering how many twists their path had taken before they reached their destination.

The house the apartment was in had seen better days. The floors hadn't been cleaned in a long time, which showed as the mud clots everywhere.

The door opened, and behind the door looked a young redheaded woman, whose hair was bound in a low ponytail. She could've easily been mistaken for girl-Ranma, if it weren't for the slight change in hair and that she was slightly taller than her sometimes-sister.

"Are ya Junko Saotome?"

The redheaded woman by that name fixed her eyes at the boy before her. His face and the hair tied at the back tickled her memories, but didn't exactly ring a bell. Still, she had met bald boys, ponytailed boys, boys with short hair and yes, also boys with pigtails before, and they all had come to her for one reason only.

"Let me guess; you've made some deal with Genma?"

"Huh? What's Pops got to do with this?"

Junko looked at the boy. The photos she and her mother had were ten years old, and she hadn't been looking at them recently. Even so, she could see something familiar in his face. Could it be...

"Ranma?"

"Uh, yeah, hi sis," he said with a smile on his face. Sure, he didn't remember all that much about his sister but certainly she'd welcome her brother back from the long and arduous training trip with arms wide open.

Then again, the way she grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled his face next to hers and snarled was not a frequent gesture of sisterly affection.

"Where is the old bastard?"

It didn't take much longer than a blink of an eye for Ranma to recover from his surprise. He took hold of her wrists and forced her to let him down.

"Hey, what's the big idea?"

"Where. Is. Genma?" Junko demanded again. Had she been a martial artist, a raging red aura would've lit up at the moment Ranma admitted being her brother.

"Hold on, sis, what's your problem?"

"Tell me how many fiancées did he set up you with, and then ask what's my problem!"

It was at this point that Kasumi intervened to placate the upset Saotome.

* * *

With the explanations out of the way, a few more blinds fell off of the two siblings' eyes.

Ranma was shocked to learn that their mother had been institutionalized because of Genma's actions. It wasn't because of the trip, though. With their eldest with her, loneliness hadn't been a problem for her.

No, the problems were the people who began to appear on their doorstep.

When the number of Junko's fiancées had grown to five, Nodoka was already falling apart. Even if a man could have all the women as mistresses, she would not let her daughter become a whore! But each and every one of them had an honorably written pact that their sons would marry the Saotome daughter.

The way Junko had described the nightly muffled sobs from their mother's room over several months... the day when she had 'accidentally' mentioned to the school nurse that her mother was planning on their ritual suicides...

Ranma had been rooted to the spot. It was Kasumi who got up first and wrapped her arms around the older girl in comfort.

He felt awkward and out of place. What should he do? Hug her as well? But Kasumi was on the job already, so was there something else he could do?

His eyes hastily scanned the room, noticing some music books and a flute in the bookshelf. The walls were mostly bare, but there were a couple of old J-rock band posters. And then his eyes returned to his now sobbing sister.

He stood up, walked up to her and slowly placed his hand on her shoulder in comfort. In his mind, he cursed his father and his leaving, not even bothering to find out about mom.

* * *

As Ranma had settled in for living at the Tendo home, time seemed to speed up as routine settled in. Ranma and Junko were trying to make up for the lost time, and Kasumi was frequently seen with them. Her reason? "We are engaged, Ranma, and Junko is my future sister-in-law."

As much as Ranma wanted to hide it, Junko eventually figured out Ranma's curse. For the most part, she accepted it, even though it was unnerving; she had come used to the fact that there were precious few natural redheads in Japan, and when someone shared not only the same hair colour but also the build and the face, it felt strange.

After all, he was her only brother. She was not going to abandon him only because of the curse; she had been raised better than that.

Soon afterwards, the three of them visited Nodoka in the hospital. She had been making progress the last couple of years, but the tangled mess her mind had been was not to be quickly sorted out. Originally, her problems had been amplified by refusal to accept that she had had to be committed. But seeing her "little boy" for the first time in a long time truly made the sun shine on her arduous road to recovery.

It took only a few more visits until Ranma's curse was revealed to Nodoka. By the time Nodoka had come out of her fainting spell, Ranma had been guided outside. And when Kasumi and Junko returned with Nodoka's doctor, they let Ranma know that she should not be visiting Nodoka... for now.

Later, once Nodoka had calmed down enough to have visitors, Junko told Ranma about the seppuku pact and how their mother's state had definitely regressed. The latter made the relations between the siblings colder for a good while.

But the time for reconciliation ran out. The door of Junko's apartment went down from a strong blow and the girl, barely out of her bed after waking up from the racket, was killed.

The news didn't reach Ranma until he and Kasumi - who again wanted to come along - attempted to visit her sister, only to find police tape around the remains of the door.

* * *

A somber mood reigned in the Tendo family room. Even though Soun had not known her that well, Junko would still have become his relative by Kasumi and Ranma's marriage. Ranma, who was sitting opposite to him, had chosen to be in girl form for the time being; as a girl, she could let herself cry for her sister. How could she miss someone she hadn't really known that well this badly?

With a heavy sigh, Soun broke the silence.

"When my dear wife died," he said before taking a pause to gather himself, "Kasumi locked herself in her room for several days. It would seem that she is still as emotional as she was then."

Ranma merely nodded, uncertain of how to answer.

"Son... as her fiancé, it is now your task to go console her."

One side of her wanted to argue that it was her sister who died, not Kasumi's. The other side, however, reminded her that she was still a man and she should act like it. It was the latter that won the argument, and soon, Ranma found herself outside Kasumi's bedroom.

She knocked on the door, hoping for Kasumi to appear at the door with a smile on her face, making it unnecessary for her to show her concern. But no one answered. Quietly, she opened the door and peeked inside.

Kasumi was lying on her bed, her back turned away from the door. Still keeping quiet, Ranma made her way to her fiancée, and whispered, "Kasumi?"

She started at this, and turned to face the newcomer. Her puffy red eyes widened as she saw the redhead, and before Ranma knew it, Kasumi had pulled her into a strong hug. Awkwardly, Ranma returned the hug. There was no need for words.

* * *

In the end, the police had found no clues who could have murdered Ranma's sister. The best theory they had involved one of Junko's fiancés, but even that had no evidence supporting it. The fact that Ranma had only recently come into her life was not only a hindrance to the investigation, as he couldn't help them, but also a painful reminder how little he eventually had known of her own sister.

It took a few months before the relative peace was broken again. It turned out that Junko's death had left a considerable part of her problems left... and they were now coming back to bite Ranma.

A practitioner of martial arts mail delivery named Takao, had come claiming for the price of two bottles of sake and two stamps - namely the daughter of Genma Saotome. After being told that the eldest one had died, it had not much of a difference to him, as the news were served to him by another rather fetching redhead, who also happened to be a child of the same wandering martial artist.

Apparently the fact that Ranma's gender was (preferably) wrong more than half of the time was not a major obstacle, as he insisted on Ranma's hand next.

One did not need a crystal ball to see how proposal suited Ranma.

With leaps of logic only martial artists from Nerima can understand and follow, the situation boiled down to Kasumi being kidnapped away on the carrier of Takao's bike, girl-Ranma chasing the bike on foot and dodging the newspapers Takao threw at her. The merry procession was then quickly joined by various shopkeepers whose store windows the newspapers broke.

In the end, the situation was resolved by a martial arts mail delivery competition. The potbellied black pig that stumbled upon the scene was the decisive factor in the competition. While Takao masterfully swerved between dogs and car tyres rolling downhill, the pig fell down from the roof of a building, right into his bag of newspapers. What he was doing up there, nobody knows.

As Takao kept his focus on the road and reached for a newspaper in the bag, the excitable pig bit down _hard_ on the fingers, making the bike careen into the wall, effectively losing the race as Ranma sped past him on foot.

When Ranma reached the finish line of the competition, the dark clouds that had inconspicuously gathered in the sky, began raining. Girl-Ranma glared at the sky for raining on his triumph, but at least Kasumi was safe.

With a quick slight of hand, she cut down the ropes binding Kasumi. And before she knew it, she had her arms and lap full of one grateful girl.

The pig, who had seen the pigtailed boy first win the competition because of him and then change into that redhaired form he had last seen in China, gave a loud squeal and ran for his backpack, wherever it may be, and was lost.

* * *

The Tendo dojo was no longer restricted to exercises of mere physical arts. True, it was still its primary purpose, now even more so than before with Ranma practicing, but now, the sound of a flute echoed inside. The open door carried it outside, where Akane cringed at a frequent interval as the player failed to produce the note clean, resulting in a nasty screech.

Inside, Kasumi's smile did not falter, as she watched Ranma get frustrated with the woodwind instrument. It had been her suggestion that he should try a more... peaceful hobby that would not be as disruptive.

So she gave him a flute, a promise and a challenge.

The promise was that if he learned playing it for a week, she would take his suggestions as for what she cooked... _very_ seriously.

The challenge was to make him learn how to play it well before the heir to martial arts flute playing came around.

With the promise and the appropriately worded challenge... he never had a chance.

Ranma hit another bad note and looked up to Kasumi. She merely smiled and gave a nod.

* * *

Ranma was walking back home from school, whistling as he walked atop the fence. Truth be told, he wasn't completely unsatisfied with his life at the moment. At least his fiancée could cook a good meal.

Akane was walking beside him on the street, lost in her own thoughts.

The girl looked up at her future brother-in-law. Well, it was better than future husband, but not by much. Their first meeting hadn't gone perfectly well. It greatly annoyed her that Ranma outclassed her as a martial artist and usually didn't bother to hide it. But as perverted as his curse was, he seemed to make Kasumi happy. For that, she would put up with some of his shortcomings.

They were still a good distance away from the house as they saw Nabiki talking with Kasumi. Ranma could hardly consider this casual sibling talk, if the way he saw Nabiki wave her hands was a sign. In turn, Kasumi was constantly switching between looking down and attempting to calm her sister.

They were still too far away to hear what the argument was about. Before they got close enough, Kasumi noticed them arriving and let Nabiki know this. Frustrated, the middle sister shook her head.

He didn't like the look on Nabiki's face as she looked at him, her face contorted like she had swallowed something bitter.

* * *

Ranma, her scarlet hair now in a low ponytail, walked towards the kitchen to heat some water to change before going to sleep. Even if she didn't like to publicly admit it, she could've had a much worse fiancée, one who wouldn't have accepted his curse like Kasumi seemed to do.

A quick change later, he was heading towards his room. Tomorrow was a Sunday and after doing some physical practice, he'd try playing a bit more with the flute. He wasn't a good player yet by far, but there had been a marked improvement in his skills.

Not much later, Kasumi made her way towards her bedroom. And with nary a worry on her mind, she quickly fell asleep.

* * *

The classes at Furinkan High were over, and Kasumi was leaving the school premises when someone ran up to catch up to her. Seeing who it was, she smiled in surprise.

The girl smiled back and grabbed her hand and began running away. Kasumi, clad in Furinkan high uniform and carrying her bookcase with her other hand, could only barely keep up with her as they ran around the neighborhood.

They laughed as they spun around the streetlights; they remembered the joys of their childhood as they saw a group of girls skipping rope. They lived the time of their youth.

Finally, when she was finally running out of breath, her guide ducked into a small alley and let go of her hand. Grinning, she turned to face Kasumi and took a step backwards. She was the flame and Kasumi was the moth.

She let Kasumi get close enough before she spun her around and pinned her against the fence. Sparkling blue eyes met brown eyes. And finally, as their lips were about to touch...

* * *

Kasumi woke up. "Oh, Junko-senpai," she thought to herself as she turned to her back. Dreams like these only made it difficult for her to accept that she had never even dared to speak to her in high school and merely watched her from afar.

She looked at the glass of water set on her nightstand with a smile before she closed her eyes again.

Second chances were rare, and she was not going to squander hers.

* * *

_**AN:** That's the end; expect no continuation. Inspired by weebee's "Character Reconstruction", believe it or not, and greatly twisted by my cynicism. This story was written over several years; hence the inconsistent style._

_Whodunit? A canon character._

_Thanks go to Ozzallos, weebee and the folk at Fukufics._


End file.
